Wrinkles in the crease
With Redmond sidelined, Newfoundland looking at the possibility of other goaltending options
A.J. Whiffen was back on the ice for the Newfoundland Growlers’ practice Thursday, but it wasn’t known for sure whether the Grand Falls-windsor native would be required as an emergency back-up again when the Growlers take on the Worcester Railers in ECHL play tonight at Mile One Centre in St. John’s.
Whiffen, the 30-year-old who backstopped the Grand Falls-windsor Cataracts to a Herder championship last season, did similar duty last season for the Growlers, was needed to back up Maksim Zhukov Wednesday night at Mile One, where Newfoundland finished off a two-game sweep of the Reading Royals with a 6-4 victory.
Angus Redmond, the Growlers’
other regular goalie, had started against the Royals Tuesday night in what turned out to be a 5-4 overtime win for Newfoundland, but was injured and replaced by Zhukov after the opening period.
Redmond was undergoing medical tests Thursday to determine the extent of the injury. The results of those tests would probably also determine how the Growlers would address their goaltending situation, especially if Redmond’s status was something more than dayto-day. The team was preparing for that possibility Thursday, checking on the availability of netminders in the Southern Professional Hockey League.
During the off-season, it had been expected the Growlers would start the 2019-20 ECHL campaign with the rookie netminding tandem of Zhukov and Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft pick Ian Scott, but an injury has meant Scott hasn’t played at all this season, and at last word, there was no timetable when he would be ready to go.
Newfoundland’s opening roster had Zhukov and Patrick Munson as goaltenders, but after Redmond was brought in, Munson was waived and claimed by the Fort Wayne Komets. Redmond is officially assigned to Newfoundland by the NHL’S Anaheim Ducks, although he arrived at the Leafs’ affiliate in an indirect trade after defenceman Ryan Johnson, signed to an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies was dealt to Anaheim’s farm team in San Diego.